Indian nationals, who were stranded in Singapore amid Covid-19 pandemic, prepare to leave in buses after they were brought by a special Air India flight at IGI Airport in New Delhi, Friday, May 8, 2020. PTI

Further air and naval evacuation plans

Meanwhile, an Air India flight with around 200 Indians from Sharjah will arrive in Lucknow on Saturday night, A K Sharma, director of the Chaudhary Charan Singh International Airport, said.

Over 700 Indians are also being evacuated by sea from the Maldives who were stranded in the scenic island due to the Covid-19 linked international travel restrictions. The Indian Navy's amphibious warship INS Jalashwa reached Male on Thursday to undertake the massive repatriation mission named 'Operation Samudra Setu', the High Commission of India in Maldives said. The first Naval ship from Male is expected to arrive at the Cochin Port on May 10, Port Trust officials in Kochi said.

The INS Jalashwa is properly equipped with relief materials, COVID-19 protection gear along with medical and administrative support staff. The INS Magar, an amphibious warfare vessel of the Indian Navy, will also join the repatriation mission in Male as part of the efforts to bring back around 1,000 stranded Indian nationals to the Kochi port in Kerala over the next few days.

Consider giving further priority to evacuating pregnant Indian medics fro Saudi: SC to Centre

The Supreme Court asked the Centre to explore granting 'further priority' to some doctors and nurses, who are stranded in Saudi Arabia amid Covid-19 pandemic and are in advanced stage of pregnancy, for bringing them back to India.

The remark by a bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan came after Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed that as per the standard operating procedure (SOP), priority is already given to the pregnant women during evacuation from abroad.

The bench, also comprising Justices S K Kaul and B R Gavai, was hearing through video-conferencing a plea seeking a direction to the Centre to make arrangements to bring back 18 medical professionals who are pregnant and are stranded in Saudi Arabia in 'vulnerable conditions'.

Senior advocate Indira Jaising, appearing for the petitioners, told the bench that pregnancy of these medical professionals is at an advance stage and they need a further priority in the priority already given to pregnant women.

'The government shall explore the question of further priority as per the specific cases of the petitioners and shall take appropriate steps accordingly,' the bench said in its order and disposed of the petition.

The bench also noted in its order that the Centre has already taken a decision to bring back Indians who are stranded overseas due to lockdown and travel restrictions amid Covid-19 pandemic.

Over 400 stranded Indians, including medical students, were brought back home on Friday from Bangladesh and Singapore in two Air India aircraft as part of the government's mega repatriation mission Vande Bharat.

The first flight from Singapore landed at the Delhi airport around 11.45 am with 234 passengers, senior officials said. Within a couple of hours, the second special flight with 167 students arrived at the Srinagar airport from Dhaka.

The Indian government on Monday had announced phased repatriation from May 7 of its citizens stranded abroad. It said Air India will operate 64 flights till May 13 to bring back around 15,000 Indians stranded abroad due to the Covid-19 lockdown.

After the returnees reached IGI airport, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said all arrangements have been made for the Indians coming from other countries. 'Delhi govt has made all arrangements for the Indians arriving from abroad,' he tweeted. All the arriving passengers were put through screening and triaging to find out any infection. After immigration and customs formalities, they headed towards paid quarantine facilities where they will spend 14 days, before going home.

Officials in Srinagar said the 167 medical students underwent screening at the airport before they were sent to administrative quarantine for a period of 14 days as mandated under the guidelines issued for curbing the spread of Covid-19.

The High Commission of India in Bangladesh had launched a dedicated link on its website for the registration for Indians wishing to return home. High Commissioner Riva Ganguly Das interacted with the students at the airport as they prepared to complete the formalities to fly back home. She said that a total of seven flights will be operated from Dhaka.

Nearly 20 buses, including of DTC and neighbouring states of Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab, were deployed at IGI airport for carrying people to quarantine facilities. According to standard operating procedure of the government for Indians arriving at IGI airport, resident commissioners and nodal officers will take care of people of their respective states regarding transport and quarantine facilities. Several medical teams drawn from municipal corporations, New Delhi Municipal Council, and Rao Tula Ram Memorial Hospital were deployed for screening the passengers from Singapore.